Josh Andrews arrived at the Ruby Buckle April Sale at the Lazy E Arena on Thursday with one goal: walk out a Ruby Buckle stallion owner.
He left with BPH Theskyisthelimit, a 2016 palomino Dash Ta Fame stallion consigned by Taylor Necaise, for $250,000, marking the high seller of the day.
The 10-year-old palomino is by Dash Ta Fame and out of Silky French Pie by Frenchmans Guy. He carries his Ruby Buckle stallion spot along with current enrollments in Breeders Challenge, Legends Of The South, and Future Fortunes. All four programs transferred with the sale.
For Andrews, it was the realization of a plan years in the making.
“I’m a guy, and if you want to be in the barrel racing industry, you have to figure out ways to make it profitable,” Andrews said. “Because obviously we’re not going to the NFR, which is okay. And I think that’s how it should be. But if you want to stay in the industry, you have to make it a business.”
Five years ago, Andrews had $1,000 to his name and was trading horses to make ends meet. Today, he runs Josh Andrews Saddles, a multi-million-dollar saddle business he built, and is using his success to enjoy his horses and the sport he loves.
“It wasn’t ever supposed to be a thing,” Andrews said of the saddle business. “I took a bad situation and turned it into something. The horse program that I have now is built just for the horses. The saddle business does that. So find something that legit can support what you love. And that’s it.”
Andrews tried to breed to BPH Theskyisthelimit last year, but the mare didn’t take. When the stallion came into the catalog as Hip 97 at this week’s sale, Andrews already knew where he was headed.
“I knew that I was going to try my hardest to come home with him,” Andrews said. “I knew I was coming for this stud and I knew who was going home. So I think with that attitude you can accomplish anything in life. No, it’s not easy. But if you want something, you can get it. It doesn’t matter what you’re going through or your financial state. You can legit get it, but you have to put in a lot of work.”
The Ruby Buckle stallion spot was the central asset of the lot. Spots are limited, rarely come available, and represent the difference between a stallion whose foals are eligible for one of the discipline’s richest incentive programs and a stallion whose foals are not.
Within 24 hours of the sale, Andrews announced an opening book of breedings at $900, with financing available, by his own description, the most affordable Ruby Buckle stud fee in the program. The first book was nearly sold out by Friday morning. BPH Theskyisthelimit will stand at Rose of Sharon Ranch in Rose Bud, Arkansas, in partnership with Mike Pony.
“At that $900 it gives everyone a chance to play, and I think that’s important,” Andrews said. “I want people to come and experience the Ruby Buckle, because it’s something that is not like any other production. Truly, it’s not.”
For Necaise, who bred and developed the stallion, Thursday was both an end and a beginning.
“This was a beginning and an end today. I wanted to get into the breeding, and obviously the Ruby was newer when I got into it,” Necaise said. “We started off with him, and I wanted to go big. Most everything I do, I try to go big with it and try to be the best at it. Came to a time in my life where there’s big-boy decisions that have to be made, and I had to make a decision to sell him.”
Necaise plans to follow the stallion as he transitions to Andrews’ program, with eyes on a return to the rodeo arena.
“Sky made my dreams come true,” Necaise said. “Being part of the Ruby Buckle and owning a horse of that caliber has made my dreams come true. And I hope he makes Josh’s dreams come true as well.”
Andrews’ bigger framing for the purchase reaches beyond the lot itself. As he sees it, stallion ownership is one of the few business pathways in barrel racing that is structurally available to men, and the men who have built the largest programs in the discipline are the ones he points to as proof of concept.
“There’s two people I think have not got enough praise ever in this industry, and that’s Jason and Charlie,” Andrews said, referring to Jason Martin and Charlie Cole of Highpoint Performance Horses. “Look what they’ve done. They’ve taken multiple girls to the NFR. As a man in this industry, you have to figure it out. Those guys are literally my idols.”
Andrews’ own program now includes BPH Theskyisthelimit alongside The Booty Bandit and a younger stud, plus a band of mares purchased over the past year that includes Cash Not Corona and Streakin Easily. He also bought a colt out of Adios Pantalones at this week’s sale that he plans to develop and stand as a stallion of his own.
The plan for BPH Theskyisthelimit also extends to the rodeo arena. Andrews’ assistant, who he said loves to rodeo, will take the stallion to jackpots and rodeos to keep him competing while he builds his book.
“He is a nice barrel horse, typical Dash Ta Fame, pretty ratey,” Andrews said. “We’re going to take him to some rodeos and see what he does, and then obviously stand him.”
The reserve high seller of the day was Hip 96, Hear Me Roarrr, a 2019 gray mare by Roarrr and out of Aquafina by First Down Dash. The maternal side traces back to Runaway Wave, the AQHA Dam of Distinction and Broodmare of the Year whose offspring include Champions Ocean Runaway and Wave Carver. Consigned by Scott Jeppson, Hear Me Roarrr sold for $76,000 to Tyler Rivette, packaged with a frozen embryo by The Goodbye Lane. Erin and Peyton Johnson of Johnson Performance Horses helped present her at the sale preview.
“She’s a really nice mare,” Peyton Johnson said. “She deserves to go and do big things and have lots of nice babies. So I’m happy for the buyers.”
For Andrews, the path forward starts immediately. BPH Theskyisthelimit heads to Arkansas, the first book opens to the public, and the saddle business keeps funding the rest.
“If people remember you by nothing else, hopefully it’s that he literally went from the bottom to the top,” Andrews said. “Because we can all do it.”